How to initiate a refund for a parent in Inkwelly

1. Open the Payments list

Open Inkwelly → Student Fee from the left sidebar, then click Payments under the COLLECTION section. The Payments page lists every payment the school has accepted this session — cash, UPI, cheque, bank transfer, and online-gateway entries side by side — along with the parent name, payment date, amount, and current status (Success, Pending, Reversed). The KPI strip at the top shows total collection, today's collection, and reconciliation readiness, so the accountant can confirm at a glance which payments are settled.

2. Find the original payment and open it

Use the search bar to find the payment by parent name, admission number, payment number (PAY/2026-27/0042 format), or invoice number. Apply the date or payment-mode filter if the parent gives you a vague reference. Click the row to open the Payment Detail page. The detail page shows the payment summary card, the invoice it settled, the receipt the office issued, and the action buttons (Reconcile, Reverse, Refund) on the top right — a refund can only be raised against a payment that has been successfully recorded.

3. Click the Refund button

Click the Refund button on the top right of the Payment Detail page. Inkwelly opens the Create Refund dialog. The dialog header summarises the original payment — payment number, student name, payment date, payment amount — and prominently shows the Refundable Amount, which is the original payment amount minus any refunds already raised against it. If the Refund button is missing, the payment is either reversed, fully refunded already, or still pending — those states block a fresh refund by design.

4. Pick refund type and enter amount

In the Create Refund dialog, pick Refund Type — Full when you are returning the entire payment (typical for a duplicate payment or a TC withdrawal within the refund-policy 100 percent slab) and Partial when the refund policy slab gives back only a fraction (50 percent or 25 percent of paid fees for mid-session withdrawals). For Full refunds, Inkwelly auto-fills the amount to the refundable total; for Partial, type the rupee amount the slab calculation gives you. Add the Processing Fee field if your refund policy deducts a fixed handling charge — the dialog shows the Net Refund Amount live so the office can confirm the number before saving.

5. Enter the reason aligned to your refund policy

Fill the Reason field with the specific cause — TC withdrawal, parental hardship and family relocation, duplicate payment received twice from parent, mid-year exit, or board change to another school. This reason lands on the principal's approval queue and on the Refund Detail page, so write the line you want to defend to the parent and trustee three months later. A specific reason like 'TC issued on 12 May, 50 percent slab applied per refund policy' is far stronger than a generic 'Refund as per policy'.

6. Select refund mode and fill bank details

Pick Refund Mode — Bank Transfer for NEFT or RTGS to the parent's bank, UPI for instant transfer to the parent's UPI ID, Cash for over-the-counter return, Cheque for a printed school cheque, or Original Payment Mode when the parent paid online and the gateway will refund automatically. Bank Transfer reveals a Bank Transfer Details section asking for account holder name, account number, bank name, branch, and IFSC — fill these from the parent's cancelled cheque or bank statement. Inkwelly validates the IFSC format so a typo gets caught at the counter instead of on disbursement day.

7. Save the refund and verify Pending status

Click the Create Refund button at the bottom of the dialog. Inkwelly creates a refund record numbered REF/2026-27/0003 format, marks its status as Pending, restores the invoice outstanding by the refund amount, and links the refund back to the original payment so both pages cross-reference each other. A success toast confirms the save. Open Student Fee → Refunds from the sidebar and the new refund appears at the top of the list with the parent name, refund amount, mode, and a yellow Pending status pill — ready for the principal to approve before the accountant disburses the money.